
/tMce* c£ 



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L&\W MEMORIAL 



OF THE 



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OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF 



NORMAL SCHOOLS IN AMERICA, 



Held at Framingham, 



JULY 1, 1864. 



BOSTON: 
PRINTED BY C. C. P. MOODY 
1866. 



*\ v 



MEMORIAL 



OF THE 



(fuavtw-Ccntenwal tiMration 



OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF 



NORMAL SCHOOLS IN AMERICA, 



Held at Framingha/m,, 



JULY 1, IS 64. 



BOSTON: 
■HINTED BY C. C. P. MOODY 
1866. 

/1/yV) 






2 






The following Circular was issued to announce the proposed 
Celebration : — 



The first Normal School in America was established, a quarter of a century ago, 
in Lexington, Mass., for the purpose of giving those who design to become teachers, a 
more thorough preparation for their vocation . The influence of its establishment 
has been of inestimable value, not only to this Commonwealth, but to other States 
in the Union ; and therefore the Board of Education, the graduates of Normal 
Schools, and other friends of learning, propose, in honor of the introduction of these 
schools into this country, and to commemorate this important event in our system 
of education, to hold a 

Quarter-Centennial Normal School Celebration, 

AT FRAMINGHAM, ON FRIDAY, JULY 1, 1864. 

The teachers, graduates, and members of these schools, and all others interested 
in education, are earnestly invited to be present, and participate in the exercises. 
Everything will be done, that can be, to render the occasion one of great interest, and 
to induce a large gathering of graduates and friends. 

Rev. Samuel J. Mat, of Syracuse, N. Y., will be the Orator of the day, and Rev. 
Eben S. Stearns, of Albany, the Historian. Other literary- exercises are expected 
from graduates . 

His Excellency Governor Andrew will preside at the Collation furnished by the 
citizens of Framingham, unless public duties, which cannot be foreseen or postponed. 
prevent. 

Provision will be made, as far as possible, by the inhabitants of the town, for 
those who desire to remain over night, and attend the Levee, which will be held in 
the Hall of the Normal School Building, on the evening of the Celebration. 

The public exercises will commence at 10>£ o'clock, in the First Baptist Church. 

It is desirable that those intending to be present, should send an early reply to 
the Principal of the School at Framingham. 

GEO. N. BIGELOW. Prin. Nor. School, Framingham, 

LUCRETIA CROCKER, Boston, 

ALPHEUS CROSBY, Prin. Normal School, Salem, 

BIRDSEY G. NORTHROP, Agt. B'd Ed., Saxonville, 

MARY F. PEIRCE, Cambridgeport, 

Mrs. GEORGE A. WALTON, Lawrence, 

Committee of Arrangements. 



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YOLUNTARY 



I 3 RA YER 



SOiSTG- OF WELCOME. 



Hail to the noble band, 
Gathered from all the land, 
North, west, and eastern strand ! 
Welcome, we sing. 

Welcome ! glad voices cry ; 
Welcome ! warm hearts reply : 
Loud through the summer sky 
The anthem ring. 

Welcome to brows of care, 
Where Time hath written fair 
Labors and conquests rare, 

Since Truth's bright spring. 
Welcome ! glad voices cry ; etc. 



Welcome, ye younger bauds, 
True hearts and helpful hands, 
Worthy, this best of lands, 

Welcome, we sing. 
Welcome ! glad voices cry ; etc . 

Greeting as kind and true 
Be to ihe strangers, too ; 
Welcome and honor due, 
Gladly we bring. 

Welcome ! glad voices cry ; 
Welcome ! warm hearts reply .; 
Loud through the summer sky 
The anthem ring. 



OR ATI O ~N" 
BY REV. SAMUEL J. MAY, OF SYRACUSE, N. Y- 



H Y M! IN" . 

Selected. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF NORMAL SCHOOLS, 

BY RET. EBEN S. STEARNS, OF ALBANY. 
VOLUNTAEY BY THE CHOIR. 



IB E NE DICTION*. 



A Collation was provided by the citizens of the town, in 
Agricultural Hall, at which Hon. Josiah Quincy presided. 
Addresses were made by the President of the Day, Members 
of the Board of Education, and other gentlemen interested in 
the past and present history of Normal Schools, 

At the close of the opening remarks of the President, this 
sentiment was given : — " A cordial greeting to all our friends, 
and a true welcome home to all the children of our Alma 
Mater." 

Mrs. Electa N. Walton of Lawrence, formerly a teacher 
in the " First State Normal School," responded by reading the 
following 

WELCOME ADDPvESS. 

In a little book called "The Stars and the Earth," the author 
mathematically demonstrates, that by the laws of light and mo- 
tion, no action is ever lost, but that, when a good or an ill work 
is done, pictures of that work are indelibly fixed upon space, 
multiplying, distancing the scene of action with the rapidity of 
light. It only wants a more subtle visual organization, and 
powers of swifter motion, such as, may be, angels delight in, to 
trace those delicate outlines. This gathering of to-day is 
making a record which can never be effaced, — a record upon 
which we ourselves may gaze in coming years. 



And so now, could we recede, with disenthralled spirits, far 
away, millions of miles among the stars, turning to earth, we 
might see actually going on, the formation of The First Normal 
School in America. 

We might see its tirst Principal, dear Father Peirce, as he 
left his island home for he knew not what arduous duties nor 
what fiery trials, but with a unity of purpose and an iron will, 
ready to grapple with any difficulty that might beset his way, 
saying even then to his wife as he neared our shore, " I would 
rather die than fail" Yes, sainted one, your wish was ful- 
ft'iled, — your success was triumphant, — but your life was 
the freely given price. 

We might follow that leader to the quiet village of Lexing- 
ton, enter with him the humble building dedicated to the then 
Normal experiment, where, on the third of July, 1839, some 
few friends of educational progress, with only three pioneer 
pupils, took the initiatory steps for the establishment of a Nor- 
mal School, made the small beginning which has wrought un- 
told effects ; for the mustard seed has become a tree, the acorn 
a mighty oak. 

Having looked upon that apparently unimportant picture, and 
traced its deep significance, winging our way to earth, twenty- 
live times ten thousand times faster than light ; we might trace 
in succession all the changes of the last twenty-five years ; 
changes in location, in teachers, in pupils, in methods of in- 
struction, in everything but its life principle of highest truth. 

Lexington ! hallowed scene of the first uprising of a would- 
be-free people from the yoke of oppression ! ground watered 
by the blood of heroes ! fit soil to receive and germinate seeds 
of this new growth — seeds sown by hands so true, so tenderly 
watered and cared for until the land is covered with a rich har- 
vest, whose golden fruits are seen on hill side and in vale 
from Passamaquoddy Bay to San Francisco, — from Lake 



Superior to — I had almost said the Gulf; but the genius of 
Education can only fold her wings and weep where the demons 
of Oppression, Pride and Sin are holding their high orgies. 

Transplanted to Newton, scene of sacred Eliot's sacrifices, 
and again to this peaceful spot, it is here we are called upon 
to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of its existence. 

From a child whose life was so precarious that it would 
seem a breath might blow it away, and whose existence was 
looked upon by those who were ignorant of its true value, as 
an evil, not a blessing, it has become an Alma Mater, — our 
Alma Mater. 

And to-day she has made a feast, and called her children 
home. Her wide-spread arms would fain embrace all who 
have ever shared her life, or who have faithfully stood by her, 
and cheered and aided her. She bids you welcome ! welcome 
to this crowning joy, linked with the hallowed associations of 
twenty-five years. 

She bids a welcome to you, her children, who, in the midst 
of your little groups are daily, earnestly, prayerfully striving 
to educate, as you have been educated here. You have closed 
your schools for the day, a day well earned by years of hearty 
devotion to your work. It will be a day upon which you will 
look as one of the golden days of your life. In these blessed 
reunions, who can tell what sparks of sacred fire may be kin- 
dled ; or what great and glorious ends this friendly intercourse 
may advance. 

Welcome all who have ever sat at our Alma Mater's feet 
and learned of her, whether your labors are in the school- 
room or in more private spheres. You are, you must be 
teaching still, for there is no one on God's fair earth whose in- 
fluence is not felt somewhere and somehow. God grant that 
your influence, as far as it is influence for right, may be ex- 
tended and strengthened, and that the social sunshine of to-day, 
in its direct and reflected rays, may be felt for years. 



8 

Welcome members of the old first class, — pioneers in the 
good work, worthy followers of a worthy leader. Our hearts 
burn within us as we thus meet you and greet you on our life- 
way to-day. Though heart answers to heart all through the 
Normal ranks, it is with a reverential, almost sacred feeling that 
we extend to you our friendly salutation. Bound to each other 
by a peculiar tie, you have ever stood side by side, supporting 
each other in your peculiar trials, rejoicing with each other in 
your peculiar joys ; ever by your zeal, your steadfastness, and 
your hearty good will, rendering lasting aid to the cause of 
Normal Schools. 

Welcome, past and present members of other Normal 
Schools who have gratified us by your presence. The word 
" Normal" is an "open sesame" to all our hearts to-day, and 
our welcome to you is most earnest and true. Tt is fitting that 
those who are engaged in the same great work should occa- 
sionally meet otherwise than on the great highway of their 
labors ; that, in the shady groves and quiet retreats by the way- 
side, individual sympathies may be extended and deepened, and 
each may feel the inspiration of a brother's or a sister's hearty 
good will. 

Welcome past and present teachers in the various Normal 
Schools, — you who have so earnestly, so faithfully, so untir- 
ingly, through good report and through evil report, labored 
on and waited on. It has been by your unceasing, self-sacrifi- 
cing labors, your patience, your belief in the necessity of your 
undertaking, and your trust in its ultimate success, that that 
success has been attained. You shielded the scattered seed, 
that the birds of envy and ill-will might not devour it, — you 
watered the tiny acorn, — you guided the footsteps of the help- 
less one ; and the supporting branches of the fruitful tree, the 
firmly-knit limbs of the mighty oak, the extended influence of 
our fostering mother will repay you. 



9 

The little country school, nestled almost unseen among our 
hills, and the more stylish village seminary, alike bear witness 
to your good works ; while the throbbing hearts of this collec- 
tion before you, and of the many more who cannot be here to- 
day, tell of love and gratitude for all your sacrifices. 

Welcome, members of the Board of Education and other 
friends, steadfast and true. You who shared our anxiety in 
the early days when Normal Schools were an experiment, and 
who, by your encouragement, upheld the weary hands till the 
right prevailed. Gladly we bid you welcome. 

And, oh, may I not say — " Welcome, bright host of sympa- 
thizing spirits, who, clothed upon by immortality, are with us 
here to-day ?" I feel, I know, that if ever spirits- of the de- 
parted are permitted to revisit loved scenes, we have with us 
a heavenly throng : — Horace Mann, whose heart enfolded 
every child in the land, — Father Peirce, prematurely old 
through his Herculean labors for the success of his last, his 
crowning work,* — Caroline Tied en, another glorious sac- 
rifice, — Nicholas Tillinghast, Prof. Newman, David 
Page, Edmund Dwight, Dana P. Colburn, and the many, 
many more, who, 

"Laboring well and suffering well, 
Have reached their promised rest.'' ] 

Brothers, sisters, let us open wide the portals of our souls to 
receive the blessed influence of these immortal spirits. Oh ! 
for a portion of the fearlessness of that great reformer, Horace 
Mann, — of the patient, self-sacrilicing, truth-loving spirit of 

Father Peirce, — of the brilliancy of Caroline Tilden, 

of the accuracy of Nicholas Tillinghast, — the benevo- 
lence of Edmund Dwight, — the perseverance of David 
Page, — the enthusiasm of Dana P. Colburn, and the 
Christian spirit of them all. 

With a consciousness of hallowed presence here, let us hear- 



10 

tily enter into the festivities of the day, and closer, closer draw 
our bond of union, We are living in troubled times : we 
must prepare ourselves to fulfil more faithfully than ever our 
heaven-appointed mission. Side by side must we stand, shoul- 
der to shoulder must we press on to meet those potent ene- 
mies, Ignorance and Sin. United, with God's help, with His 
weapons only in our hands, and His spirit in our hearts, we 
may help to plant by the side of our glorious country's flag, 
which shall yet float, a flag of Liberty over all the land, — the 
ensign of Peace and Love, of Justice and Humanity. 

Feeling that this, above all else, is now our great mission? 
and that the exercises we have already enjoyed and those in 
which we are yet to participate, will help to gird each one of 
us more truly for the work again, in the name of our beloved 
Alma Mater, I bid vou welcome, thrice welcome ! 



In response to the sentiment : " West Newton Normal 
School Days — the days of happy memories," Mrs. Louisa P. 
Hopkins, of New Bedford, read the Poem which follows : — 

A winning, waving meadow, with scarf of blue and green — 

"Twas the sedgy grass and water, with Forget-me-nots between — 

We were wading over ankles ?nd the sun was shining hot, 

But we school-girls at West Newton loved the blue Forget-me-not. 

Other meadows stretched alluring, where placid streams flowed through, 

And the Gentian with its fringes, and the River Flag gleamed blue, 

But the plashy, mocking mosses, with their clumps of starry eyes, 

The slender-stemmed Forget-me-nots were, more bewitching prize. 

And when the July sun looks down on each successive year, 

And the happy gi een and blossoms, and the birds are settled here, 

I find within my memory a sunny, Summer spot, 

'Tisthe old school at West Newton wreathed with wild Forget-me-not. 

retracing that bright picture, it is easy to begin 
With the fog-cloud in the morning that shut the Village in. 
We were up in time to see it, ere it, lifting, thinned away, 
For we rose to read our lessons in the violet bloom of day. 



11 



Anon the schcol was opening, and the instant found u- there- 
Still how fresh the inspiration from the choral hymn and prayer. 
Sowing seed by other waters, it has strengthened us and biest, 
When our hands were almos; fa .ling, and our hearts we; e sorely pr« st. 
Soon blackboards teem with mystic curve and cabalist c sign, 
And a gentle lady stands there, with a mind so crystalline, 
She guides the swift brain-c< ursers, and from her magic hand 
Runs thril ing to each eager steed th' unseen, electric band. 
And oft I have remembered when my soul was dull and spent, 
How a queenly one looked upon us— her color came and went, 
While her glowing words swept over us as healthful wii ds sweep by, 
And forever she enriched us with her dark and fervent eye. 
Enthusiasm — holy power ! best alchemist art thou, 
Kindled from soul to soul, and sped from radiant brow to brow, 
Changing to joy all duty, and on transfiguring heights 
Showing us all the shades of earth fair with celestial lights. 
Not least in this clear vision I remembor, if I may, 
Running cross the fields at twilight by a narrow, trodden way, — 
And she, at whose magnetic call, we every breadth c< uld span, 
Shone like a rare crown-jewel in the home of Horace Mann. 

Education has its heroes, they lay not their armor down 
Till they meet death in the combat, and receive the victor's crown. 
And the Pioneer, who, East and West, held firm th' advancing van, 
Was one of lordly heart and mien— our own great Horace Mann. 

At last the happy seasons of that rich school year were fled, 

They had lavished all their largess, and we gathered round our Head. 

As a crescent of white lilies waits for some reviving dew, 

We, pale, with parting, waited for his benediction true. 

And when, with our commissions in his hand, he stood and prayed, 

We felt like tie Apostles, strong in God, in self afraid ; 

And an earnest, full assurance was given then and there, 

That God Himself would answer that deep, availing prayer. 

So, young and full of courage, we !ook< d the future through, 

And thought — There's naught upon the earth we will not dare to do. 

All holy work is Woman's Avork, unworthy she who scans 

Each feebly-set partition that divides her work from Man's. 

Ah! wreaths of blue Forget-me-not! bloom new and fresh alway. 
Immortalize in us the faith and spirit of that day; 
And when, al! met in Paradise, the long roll-call is made, 
Each with her work before the Lord, — we will not be afivid. 



12 



Rev. Eben S. Stearns read, by request, the following 
lines, written by a graduate of the " First State Normal 
School :'' 

While we recall with grateful words to-day, 
The friends whose counsel blessed our early way, 
(i^ad we renumber one whose long-tried skill, 
VV atches the interests of the good cause still. 
Whose large experience, and whose liberal thought, 
To us unmeasured wealth so freely brought. 
Who showed in breadth ot culture, learning true, 
The teacher now must be the scholar too. 
Who loved our studies, understood their end, 
The unsparing critic and the constant friend. 
No smiling sham, beneath his keen dark e}'e. 
But feared to meet its quiet scrutiny. 
Kone knew so well as he the work well done, 
Or gave so cordial praise where praise was won. 
And when on festal days in grand array, 
The term-time work before our elders lay, 
No eye like his followed the twisted line 
Of abstract proof through tangent and cosine. 
Yet when we decked the hall to charm the eye, 
With all the blooming wealth of rich July, 
The rarest tints arranged with choicest care, 
We knew would find a warm admirer there. 

Well we remember the bright summer day, 
When, following him, we took our happj' way, 
Where, 'neath the shade of arching trees, he stood, 
And showed the wonders of the waiting wood, 
A troop of happy girls, eager to learn, 
We gathered r« und, knee deep amid the fern, 
To scan the various foims of leaf and fruit,. 
Of graven bark, and earth-imprisom d root. 
The listening oak its acorns downward flung, 
And high o'erhead the wondering robin sung : 
While thus we learned to read below, above, 
Written in lines of beauty, thoughts of love. 



13 

Years have gone by— and eager children now 
Ask us the mysteries of each leafy bough. 
Where has the humming bird his place of rest? 
Why does the robin leave his last year's nest? 
And glad young voices call for us to show 
Where the sweet hazel nuts and acorns grow. 
Which is the bowing hemlock, which the pine, 
Where hang the purple clusters of the vine. 
Thus, wandering thoughtful through the quiet groves, 
We talk of him and of the trees he loves ; 
Of him who, in his days of well-earned ease, 
Cares for small children and for stately trees. 

Rich may the harvest of his autumn be — 
Rich in the garnered wealth of memory ; 
And young hearts, grateful for the good he sent, 
Make glad his Indian summer of content. 

In conclusion Mr. Stearns read this sentiment : — " The 
devoted Teacher, just Critic, and generous Friend — -we wait 
for the Lesson of the Hour," — to which Mr. George B. Em- 
erson was called upon to respond. 

Mr. Emerson rose to thank the associated teachers for the 
kindness with which he had been received, and some unknown 
friend for the flattering manner in which the interest in the 
school which he had always felt and constantly expressed, had 
been acknowledged. He recalled a visit to the one Normal 
School at Lexington, when there were only three pupils, and 
contrasted that condition with the present, when there were 
four large and flourishing schools supported by the State, all 
admirably managed ; and he spoke of the good already done 
and which would go on to be better done by more and more 
highly educated teachers. He called to memory some of the 
faithful and able teachers in this school, now gone to their 
reward, particularly Father Pierce and Caroline Tilden, 
and was going on to mention others, and to reiterate the lessons 
he had formerly so often given, as to the motives by which the 
teacher should be himself influenced, and the motives to which 
he should appeal, when the ten minutes allowed to each speaker 
expired, and he took his seat. 

B 



14 

A few days after the celebration, Mr. Emerson addressed 
a letter to the Secretary of the Convention, which the gradu- 
ates will recognize as the lesson intended for the hour, and 
which is therefore inserted in this Memorial : 

Boston, July 11, 1864 
My Dear Miss Crocker : — I was never more agreeably sur- 
prised and touched than I was at the reading by Mr. Stearns, 
of the beautiful lines so full of allusions to myself, at the re- 
cent celebration at Framingham. In my agitation I failed to 
say what I had intended to say, and said what might as well 
have been omitted. I wanted to repeat the lessons I had so 
often given, such as — Aim only at the highest ends : Appeal 
to only the purest and highest motives : Fill your souls with 
the noblest aspirations, your hearts with the warmest affec- 
tions, your minds with the richest thoughts, and consecrate all 
to the great work in which you are engaged, — the best and 
noblest work to be done on earth : Aim always at perfection ; 
Cv Be ye therefore perfect," — as no lower aim is adequate to 
the immortal destiny of man : Appeal always to conscience, 
so as to exercise it constantly from the beginning ; asking, in 
every event, what is right and good, and what is evil and 
wrong, and faithfully listening to its dictates and following 
them : Inculcate the great truth that all pleasure, all enjoy- 
ment, must come from the exercise of one or more of our fac- 
ulties of body or mind, and that labor of body or mind is thus 
the great blessing of humanity : Prepare for the leisure of life 
and for old age : Inculcate accountability to one's self as an 
immortal being, destined to bear the consequences of neglect 
and enjoy the fruits of faithfulness : Accountability to God 
as His child, for every power and opportunity to do good to 
his other children : The imitation of good and great men, the 
benefactors of the race : The imitation of Christ. 

Never appeal to brute force except when it is absolutely 
demanded ; remembering, however, that corporal punishment 
may sometimes be necessary, but that he must be a poor 
teacher who often has recourse to it. Never appeal to emu- 
lation, but insist on the divine lesson, "in honor preferring one 
another :" Remember the injunction of the holy Paul, "Be not 
overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good," and that the 
only absolutely irresistible power is ever-enduring, wholly un- 
selfish love. 



15 

The teacher must he armed with this principle. She must 
love children ; and she ought to remember that all of them are 
or have lately been of that number of whom the Divine Mas- 
ter said, " Of such is the Kingdom of Heaven." 

Remember that the art of teaching, which should be the 
oldest, is really the newest of arts ; that, in most schools, in 
all departments, much time is wasted in teaching what is of 
little value, while many things, most important for the child 
to learn, are not taught at all. In short, what should be the 
great and leading object in every school, — preparation for the 
duties and labors of life, — is, in many ways, in schools of all 
grades, almost entirely neglected. 

Some of this I was preparing to say, when the inexorable 
bell told me my time was gone. Of course, Mr. Stearns and 
you, and perhaps others, were disappointed, and waited in 
vain for "the lesson of the hour." 

I write to thank you, and, through you, the author of the 
poem, for remembering so kindly and so graciously calling to 
my mind little things that I had thought forgotten — that 1 
had almost forgotten myself. 

I am, with great regard and affection, 

Yours very truly, 

GEO. B. EMERSON. 
Miss Lucretia Crocker. 



IMPROMPTU, 

Read by Mrs. Lois T. C. Howison of Salem. 

But twenty-five summers ago, my good friends, 
* Only twenty -five summers and odd, 
They tell us there wasn't a Normal School 

On all Massachusetts sod. 
And twenty-five summers ago, my dear friends, 

Though it's harder to understand, 
There wasn't a Normal School, we are told, 

In the whole of this blessed land. 



16 

My knowledge of dates is but vague, it is true, 

But I thought — not to be too exact — 
The Dark Ages were matters of history, 

But I find they are matters of fact. 
How very benighted the land must have been, 

How vainly instruction was sought, 
How many slack ropes must have been in the ship, 

When not even the masters were taut ! 

Just think of the sighings and groanings and tears, 

When the children for wisdom made search, 
And found that "internal improvements" were made 

By external appliance of birch. 
No "object-lessons" were thought of then, 

There was no royal road to knowledge, 
There weren't any "ponies" in those stern, old times, 

How did the poor boys get through college 1 

Just think how the national legs must have ached, 

The bodies how sadly unplastic, 
When people could stand only right side up, 

And nobody knew a Gymnastic ! 
They hadn't found out, in those primitive days, 

What much of the Universe means, 
Hadn't guessed the true function of various things, 

Eor instance, they didn't "know beans." 

The wondrous discovery of "muted tones" 

Hadn't got, then, through any one's noddle, 
And in short I'm afraid, very sorely afraid, 

There wasn't a school that was "model." 
So it's easy to see our advance has been great, 

And I think we may safely expect 
To import for our teachers, in Eighty-Nine, 

Professional angels, direct. 

The sentiment, "A voice from the West," was followed by 
a Poem from Miss Anna C. Brackett, Principal of the 
Normal School, St. Louis, Mo. : 

We bring you our greeting, oh schoolmates, oh sisters ! 

From where the great river flows, — rushing along 
Past city and village, past mountain and prairie, 

Unresting, with current swift, steady, and strong ; 



17 



And bears on its waters, unshackled anew, 

No flag but the beautiful "red, white and blue." 

We bring you our greeting from loyal Missouri, 
That turns her scarred face to the front and the foe, 

And, though weary with struggle, though shot-torn and bleeding, 
Still guards with strong hand the dear colors we know. 

Warm greeting we bring you, oh home by the sea ! 

From loyal Missouri that soon shall be free. 

And back to the free air of old Massachusetts 
We turn, with our hearts full of love and of pride ; 

Once more her rough rocks and her clear waters greet us ; 
Once more, beloved comrades, we stand by your side, 

And memory calls up all the past that was here, 

And brightens the scenes we shall always hold dear. 

And rushing and wild, like the broad Mississippi, 
The thick-crowding memories thronging must come, 

As back to this rightly-named ""home of the stranger," 
Once more from our wanderings, our eager feet roam. 

What bring we, oh friends, from our differing ways ? 

What bring we from all of these swift-fleeting days ? 



The rolling years have brought their tears 
And smiles in turn before us ; 

But hearts are young as when we sung 
Our last and parting chorus. 

Still hold we true, through all the new 
And strange the years have brought us, 

The earnest will, that follows stilly 
The paths that here were taught us. 

'Tis not from play we come to-day ; 

No idle hands are ours ; 
Just for a while, in summer's smile, 

They pause to gather flowers. 

And all the bloom and rare perfume 

We '11 carry when we sever,; 
And from them twine for "auld lang syne" 

A wreath to cheer forever. 



18 



No untouched dust, no gathered rust 
We bring you from our places ; 

Our tools are bright, and shines the light 
From earnest, eager faces. 

From differing way, we bring to-day 
Hands that are growing stronger ; 

And hearts that ask no better task 
Than that of working longer. 

Yet not alone in sunshine stand 

Our memories of the past ; 
The shadows from the "silent land" 

Their softening o'er them cast. 

Our hearts remember those who lie 

Safe under summer flowers, 
Who never, as in days gone by, 

May lay their hands in ours. 

No gentler hands, no stronger hearts, 

E'er knew we at our side ; 
We do not hide the tear that starts, 

For comrades true and tried. 

The blessing of their earnest strife 

Upon our strivings fell ; 
We hold them always in our life, 

We do not say, — farewell. 



So take our glad greeting, oh schoolmates, oh sisters ! 

And give us a welcome from far in the West. 
We work hand in hand, and we work for our country, 

Let us find in our labor our long sought for rest. 
East and West, they are one, and we strike hands together 

Across the broad prairies, o'er river and State. 
No fainting, no flagging, but forward forever ! 

The harvest is white, and the field, it is great. 



The exercises of the Collation were closed by singing these 
lines, written for the occasion, to the tune of 

AULD LANG SYNE. 

A moment from the beaten track, ■ — 

The dusty path of life, — 
We've turned to pause beneath the shade, 

And rest us from the strife. 
A moment clasped each other's hands, 

A moment, — 'twould not last ; 
And now we sadly say, " Good-by," 

And add it to the past. 
To auld lang syne, my friends, — 

To auld lang syne, — 
We'll add one golden memory more 

To auld lang syne. 

Good-by ; we go where care and joy 

Are mingled in our way . 
Strong be our hearts, and swift our hands, 

For all we've heard to-day. 
And, wheresoe'er our wanderings be, 

In shadow or in shine, 
We'll keep one pleasant memory still 

Of auld lang syne. 
Of auld lang syne, my friends.,— 

Of auld lang syne, — 
We'll keep a blessed memory yet 

Of auld lang syne. 

The Levee in the evening, at the School Hall, was enjoyed 
by a large number of graduates and friends. 



21 



ADDRESS 

BY REV. SAMUEL J. MAY, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK. 



Ladies and Gentlemen : 

Patrons, Teachers, Graduates, of Normal Schools : — 
With heartfelt thankfulness to our Heavenly Father, I greet 
you on this auspicious day. Surely the Twenty-fifth Anniver- 
sary of the institution of Normal Schools is a period at which 
we may confidently assume the question to be settled, that all, 
who would he teachers of children, ought to be especially pre- 
pared and trained for their fundamentally important work ; 
and that henceforth the schools for the instruction of teachers 
will he considered an essential part of a complete system of 
Popular Education. But, as I look over this assembly of the 
graduates and friends of Normal Schools, and of the profess- 
ors, amateurs and patrons of the Art of Teaching, my delight 
is not a little overshadowed by the spectres of those revered 
and loved ones, either of whom would be called to address you 
to-day, rather than myself, if he were living in the flesh, and 
either of whom would discourse of this grand occasion so much 
more worthily than I can. 

How do all our hearts now thrill with regret, that Horace 
Mann, one of the fathers of this Institution, who did all that 
a mortal man could do for the improvements of the Common 
Schools of the State and the Nation, — how do we all lament 
that he is not here to speak as he only could on this Anniver- 
sary. His opulent vocabulary and fervid rhetoric would be put 
in utmost requisition to give utterance to his generous aspira- 
tions for the highest welfare of his country and of the human 
race. His expressive countenance would glow — his significant 
words would burn with gratitude to the Giver of all good for 



22 

the great success which has crowned this part of his plan for 
the elevation of the standard of popular education. 

" Father Pierce," if he were here, would speak to his chil- 
dren, and his children's children, not only with a wisdom al- 
most inspired, but with a depth of feeling, and a loftiness of 
eloquence, which would take wholly by surprise those, who 
had only seen his usual demure looks, had never heard him 
when his tender heart and large soul were deeply moved. 
The education of the young had engaged his most earnest 
thought, had occupied almost the whole of his life. It inclu- 
ded, in his estimation, the moral and religious more even than 
the mental culture of the children of men. Those words, so 
often on his lips — "live to the truth" — would come from 
them to-day with such unaffected earnestness, that they would 
seem to those, who had heard them most frequently, to have 
a deeper meaning than ever before, and be impressed as the 
crowning lesson of his life. 

Prof. S. P. Newman, first Principal of the Normal School 
now at Westfield, — well may we sorrow, that h£ is not living 
to do the duty I am attempting to discharge. Although his 
services in this department were cut short by death, yet his 
high attainments as a scholar ; his just appreciation of the im- 
portance of this institution, evinced by the promptness with 
which he resigned in its favor the presidency of one of the 
most respectable colleges in the country; and the reputa- 
tion of the instructions which he gave during the too short 
time that he conducted the Normal School at Barre, — all 
would warrant us in expecting from him to-day an address of 
surpassing excellence and beauty. 

And Col. Tillinghast of Bridgewater, although his ex- 
treme modesty might still make him very reluctant to address 
a large audience, could not have withheld himself from this 
occasion, if he had been within reach of your Committee's 
call ; for his sense of duty held in perfect subjection every 



'J. 6 



personal consideration, every private feeling. With him it 
was always a duty to attempt whatever his position in society, 
or his relations to others recommended him to do. To-day. 
were he addressing this audience, you who had seen him but 
seldom, or only heard of him, would get sufficient insight into 
his deep-toned character, to enable you to account for the sin- 
gular power he acquired over his pupils — a sort of fascination, 
which, to those only slightly acquainted with him, seemed 
mysterious. 

These admirable men were in every way before me, in the 
grand enterprise we have come here to celebrate ; and they 
have gone before me beyond the reach of earthly demands. 
In the judgment of your Committee of Arrangements, there- 
fore, the duty which any one of them would have performed 
so much better, and the honor, to which he would have had a 
much higher title, is devolved upon me. 

But it will not be my duty to engross much of your time. 
So many are present, from whom you are expecting words 
of wisdom or of wit ; grateful reminiscences or cheering 
anticipations ; that I intend my address shall be but the 
preface or, at most, the introduction to the richer treat that is 
before you — the instructive chapters, the choice paragraphs, 
the pregnant sentences, the apt quotations, the impressive 
prose, the spirit-stirring poetry, that lie between the covers of 
this auspicious day. 

No one can enter fully into our joy, for no one can fully 
appreciate the importance of Normal Schools and Teachers' 
Institutes, who does not clearly discern their relation to our 
System of Popular Education ; and who does not see, that the 
thoroughly good moral and mental culture of the whole people 
is indispensable to the health, if not to the life, of our Body 
Politic. 

In the course of events, and, as I believe, in the good Prov- 
idence of God, the people of these United States were called 



24 

to try the grandest political experiment ever attempted on so 
large a scale — that of self-government — the government of 
the whole people, by the whole people, for the good of the 
whole people, instead of the aggrandizement of a favored few. 
Such was the glorious programme. But the Founders of our 
Republic put their hands to the work without guarding, as 
bitter experience has taught us they should have done, against 
several fundamental inconsistencies. 

No truths are more obviously self-evident than that " all 
men are created equal ; that they are endowed by the Creator 
with certain inalienable rights ; that among these are life, lib- 
erty and the pursuit of happiness." But, to say nothing now 
of the tremendous, heaven-defying inconsistency of starting 
upon our democratic experiment, with such a declaration of 
human equality on our national lips, and more than three hun- 
dred thousand human beings under our national feet ; with 
the virtual consent that several of the States of this Union 
mio-ht continue to be governed by a most haughty and ruthless 
aristocracv, — to say nothing on this most painful subject, see- 
in^ that, in this day of righteous retribution, we are throwing 
off the inconsistency by the awful processes of civil war ; and 
passing over another equally glaring, though not yet so mis- 
chievous inconsistency, — that of coolly denying to the "better 
half of the people all participation in the government of the 
States or the Nation, without so much as the courtesy of say- 
in «• to our mothers, wives, sisters, "with your leave, ladies", — 
passing over this, because it is too large a theme to be treated 
incidentally, let me come to the other grand mistake made 
in the organization of* our Republic, because the evils arising 
from this can be remedied only by thoroughly good education 
of all the people. I allude to what is called universal suffrage. 
Believing, as I do, with my whole heart, the primal truth of 
our Declaration of Independence, of course I do not deny that 
all men have a right to participate in the institution of the 



25 

Government under which they are to live, and in the election 
of the officers by whom that government shall be adminis- 
tered. But I do deny that any rights are unconditional. The 
right of one person cannot conflict with the rights of other per- 
sons. No one can have a right through his ignorance, any 
more than by his evil intention, to inflict injury upon the com- 
munity. No man, therefore, can have a right to do what he 
does not know how to do. Every man unquestionably has 
a right to be a physician, a surgeon, a ship captain, or an 
engineer. But no man can have a right to administer a medi- 
cine, if he knows nothing of its nature, and of the disease for 
which he would give it. No man has the right to amputate 
a limb, if he is unacquainted with the art of surgery. Nor 
can a man have the right to undertake to guide a ship across 
the Atlantic, if he knows nothing of navigation ; nor to man- 
age a locomotive, if he does not understand the steam engine. 
All these propositions are self-evident, indisputably true. Yet 
are they any more obvious, than that no man can have a right 
to take part in enacting or administering the laws, or even in 
the choice of others to enact or administer the laws, if he 
knows nothing of the nature, structure, or spirit of the gov- 
ernment under which he lives ? Is it not self-evidently true 
that no man should exercise the right to legislate, or vote for 
a legislator or executive officer, who is utterly ignorant of the 
Constitutions of our State and Federal Governments ? Does 
not common sense, at a glance, perceive that no one should be 
allowed to exercise the prerogative of a citizen, who does not 
know what it means to be a citizen — the responsibilities 
which citizenship imposes, the duties which it requires ? At 
least, ought not every one, who would be admitted to the elec- 
tive franchise, to give evidence to his fellow-citizens that he 
has read, and that he understands the essential provisions of 
the Constitution, under which he is to vote ? 

The answer which these questions imply, is the only one, it 
c 



26 

seems to me, which a sane man would give. If so, then did 
the framers of our political fabric commit a grave, it may be a 
fatal, mistake. The doctrine of universal suffrage is true ; 
but admitting men to the exercise of that prerogative who 
know nothing about it, is allowing them to put their hands to 
the Ark of our political existence, without knowing how it is 
to be upheld, or whither it should be borne. And yet hun- 
dreds of thousands, in our country, are allowed so to do. And 
should this civil war issue, as we trust in God it will, in the 
overthrow of the Southern Aristocracy, and the entire eman- 
cipation of their millions of slaves, then will there be hundreds 
of thousands more of ignorant men who must, in all consisten- 
cy, be admitted to citizenship with its highest privilege. 

Friends of Education ! Teachers of the children of men ! 
the salvation of our nation is to depend, under God, upon the 
faithful appliance of the best means and methods for the moral 
and intellectual improvement of the whole people. Tremble 
we well may before the aspect of danger, which universal suf- 
frage puts upon our Republic. But let a second thought rouse 
us to meet the threatening evils generously, courageously, — 
the thought that the wise providence of the impartial God 
probably permitted us to be brought into this predicament, 
through the mistake of our Fathers, in order that we may 
fully realize how dependent our civil welfare, if not existence, 
is upon the lowliest members of our body politic scarcely less 
than upon the loftiest. The humblest may not be despised 
or neglected with impunity ; for the public well-being may 
be seriously affected for good or for ill by the ignorance 
or intelligence, the virtue or the vice of the least of the 
brethren. In our democratic States, every man, however ob- 
scure may be his relative position, is a significant figure. He 
is a constituent of the Body Politic ; and his vote counts as 
much — may do as much good or ill — as the vote of the most 
exalted. Some of the momentous measures of our state and 



27 

national governments have been decided by the votes of one 
or two individuals. The adoption of the Missouri Compro- 
mise, that disastrous measure which enlarged the borders 
and prolonged the curse of slavery in our land, was effected by 
only two votes. It is also, I believe, susceptible of proof that 
the war with England in 1812 would not have been waged, 
but for a ballot thrown in a passion by an ignorant individual 
in Rhode Island. That one vote effected the election of a 
member of the United States Senate, to whose single vote 
again, at the important crisis, may be ascribed the subsequent 
decision of the Senate to plunge our nation into the horrors 
and vast expenditure of that useless conflict. And it may not 
be impertinent to remind you that in 1837, a single vote in 
Massachusetts prevented the reelection of a very distinguished 
and, until then, very popular chief magistrate, because he had 
advised an alarming encroachment upon the liberty of speech 
and of the press. 

In our democracies, the lowliest citizen is, as much as the 
loftiest, the source of the powers which the governments wield. 
Nay, there is no one so lowly that he may not be raised to the 
highest office in the State or the Republic, be called not only 
to confer but to administer the power of the nation. Under 
our form of government, it is then nothing less than indispen- 
sable that all the people should be well educated, diligently 
trained to respect the power, by which they are governed, 
(although that power emanates from themselves) because it 
can have no vital force in the body politic, if it have none in 
the constituency of that body. No members of a self-govern- 
ing State do or can contribute aught to the strength of the 
government, except so far as they have the ability and dispo- 
sition to govern themselves. Consequently a far higher degree 
of moral as well as intellectual culture is needed in all the 
people of a democracy, than in the subjects of a monarch or 
of an aristocracy. The awful civil war, which is now desola- 



28 

ting some of the fairest portions of our country, sending mes- 
sengers of bereavement, sorrow and alarm throughout its bor- 
ders, and to the utmost trying the strength of our civil fabric, — 
this war originated in those States where the masses of the 
people have had no education, and where the dominant classes 
have adopted the falsest principles of political, social and per- 
sonal morality. 

Nothing has inspired me with so much confidence in our 
own loyal States, and in the competency of the people to govern 
themselves, as the self-control, the respect for law, the defer- 
ence to rulers, which our people have shown through all the 
excitements and irritations of the last three years. This is a 
stronger evidence of our stability, than the lavish expenditure 
of money to which they have consented, and the generous spirit 
of self-sacrifice they have manifested. The patience with 
which our immense armies, and the people generally, endured 
the vexatious delays, that our early commanders deemed 
necessary, and have borne the sad disasters, the awful waste 
of lives and of materials, which were incurred by the misman- 
agement of traitors, cowards, or incompetent men in the high- 
est military posts ; more than all, the quietness with which the 
people acquiesced in the release of those arch rebels,; emissa- 
ries of the satanic confederacy, Messrs. Mason and Sli- 
dell, because their capture by Com. Wilkes was not con- 
ducted exactly in accordance with the law of nations, as our 
Government has expounded it, — these and other signal evi- 
dences of self-control given by so large a majority of the peo- 
ple of our loyal States, have confirmed my faith in the true 
doctrine of democracy, that the people have the right, be- 
cause they have the ability, to govern themselves, and to do it 
better than an hereditary monarch or lordly aristocracy would 
do it for them. 

Now this power, which emanates to the State from the peo- 
ple as individuals, must be developed in the individuals and 



29 

trained to use by the processes called education. This should 
be began, and to a certain extent can be best done by the nat- 
ural guardians of children, their parents, in that most sacred 
of all institutions, the family. 

But even if parents generally were what all should qualify 
themselves to be, before they dare to assume the most impor- 
tant office a human being can fill ; if indeed all fathers and 
mothers were able, and conscientiously careful, to do what they 
especially ought to do for the right education of their offspring ; 
still, as children are born to sustain other and more extended 
relations than those of the family, they require a larger range 
and greater variety of information and moral culture than could 
be given them by the best qualified parents, in the most ample 
and well-appointed houses. Children need to receive a moral 
and mental training, which can only be given them in company 
with their peers in age, whose conditions in life may vary from 
their own in every particular ; so that they may be, as early as 
possible, taught to respect the rights and feelings, as also to 
emulate the excellencies and avoid the faults, of one another. 
An education, wholly domestic and private, has ever been 
found insufficient and otherwise defective, however well it has 
been devised and administered. 

Public schools, therefore, which are indispensable to the 
education of nine-tenths of the children, even in the free States 
of our country, may be made a great additional advantage to 
the other tenth, who are more highly favored in having par- 
ents well qualified to be their literary teachers and moral 
guides. Even the children of such parents cannot receive 
alone, at home, — nor even in the best private schools, where 
they will be associated only with those of their own social 
condition, can they receive all the discipline, nor be made so 
readily to see the uses of all the knowledge they will need for 
the duties and trials of life. It is important that the most for- 
tunate children should be put where they will early learn that 



30 

the Heavenly Father has not been gracious to them only ; but 
that in some respects the children even of the poorest in the 
community have been gifted with better talents, and higher or 
more lovely traits of character, than themselves. I believe it 
has been an essential benefit to me through life, that, when a 
little child, I attended a school with boys and girls, who came 
thither from homes much less sightly than my own, clad in 
garments of a coarser texture and less fashionable style than 
I wore. Nor am I sure that my early espousal of the cause 
of that most injured "class of Americans called Africans" was 
not in some measure attributable to the fact that I sat upon 
the same bench and recited in the same class with a boy, whose 
skin was as dark as a starless night, but whose spirit was as 
joyous as a cloudless noonday ; who was certainly more witty, 
and not less wise, than any of his fellows, and was the favorite 

of us all. 

But in Massachusetts, and in this presence, I need not urge 
the importance of schools, nor argue that in a democratic 
State it is best that the children of all classes should be edu- 
cated together, and equally well, so far as it may be practica- 
ble. It only remains for us to consider what may be done to 
make the Common Schools, which are the National University, 
as effective as possible for the great purposes for which they 
were instituted. 

We have come here to-day, to celebrate the great success of 
the experiment, begun twenty-five years ago, to improve the 
qualifications and elevate the professional as well as personal 
characters of the educators of youth. Schools are the most 
important of all our social institutions, if we except only the 
churches. And when the plan of Normal Schools shall be 
fully developed, faithfully applied, and brought into general 
operation, it will be seen and felt that they are fountains from 
which life, light, and purity shall be infused more and more 
into our system of popular education. 



31 

Common, Free Schools are the only device by which all 
the children in our country can be reached, and helped to re- 
ceive the instruction and moral training, which it is indispen 
sable to the well-being of our democracy they should have. 
The especial purpose of Normal Schools is to make Common 
Schools as efficient as possible by preparing for them Teach- 
ers, who thoroughly understand the work it is given them to 
do, who justly appreciate its importance, and who will consci- 
entiously do it well. Surely teachers need such particular 
preparation for the School, not less than ministers for the 
Pulpit, lawyers for the Bar, or physicians for the practice of 
the Medical Art. 

The State, the Republic, have a right, and for their own 
welfare are bound to compel all parents, who are not provi- 
ding for their children good instruction elsewhere, to keep 
them in regular attendance at the public schools, until they 
shall have acquired the rudiments of a good education. If 
so, the parents have a corresponding right to demand such pro- 
visions as will ensure to their children a sufficient education, 
at an age as early as it is practicable, because a large number 
of parents need the avails of their children's labor as soon as 
they are able to work to advantage. Therefore the teachers 
in our Common Schools ought to be adepts in the arts of men- 
tal instruction and moral culture, so that they may do quickly 
what should also be done well. Teachers need to be expert 
not less than faithful. 

A very large proportion of children, especially the boys, 
are withdrawn from our schools by or before the age of fifteen. 
Their poor parents claim their services ; or insist that it is time 
they should be put to learning some trade or handicraft, by 
which to support themselves. This demand cannot be justly, 
and in many communities might not be safely, denied. 

In the city where I reside, we have an arrangement for pub- 
lic instruction, of which no city of equal size in New England 



32 

would need to be ashamed. We can take children, if their 
parents will permit us, from the nursery to the college, through 
a series of well graded schools. But not one in thirty of our 
children is left long enough under instruction to ascend into 
our High School. Not more than one in twenty-five is per- 
mitted to reach even the grade next below that department. 
I presume that elsewhere generally, throughout our loyal 
States, the facts of the case are similar. If so, the vast pro- 
portion of children are to receive all the schooling they will 
ever have before they have attained the age of fifteen. Should 
it not, then, be the purpose and endeavor of Normal Schools 
so to prepare teachers that they will be able to give, and 
feel the necessity of giving, the greatest possible amount of 
elementary, fundamental instruction in the too short time that 
will probably be allowed them to operate upon a very large 
majority of the children in any community ? What is needed, 
then, is not a course of instruction that is symmetrical and 
complete in itself, so much as that kind of instruction and moral 
discipline, which will most certainly give to the children of all 
classes the ability to acquire, in after life, all the knowledge 
they may need or desire ; and fix in their hearts the philan- 
thropic purpose to consecrate their knowledge, their talents 
and opportunities, to the service of mankind, rather than to 
their personal aggrandizement. 

The great value of each one of the branches of learning, 
usually proposed to be taught in our Common Schools, cannot 
be denied. Provisions for them all ought surely to be made. 
It may only be questioned whether, within the time that most 
children attend school, it is practicable to^ do much more than 
teach them thoroughly well the three essential branches — 
Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic ; and whether these branches 
are not too often neglected, for the sake of giving children a 
mere smattering of half a dozen other branches. Certainly no 
children, if they can possibly be retained long enough, should 



33 

be permitted to leave school until they can read well, write 
will, and cipher well. They, who are fully possessed of these 
arts, may learn all things else, that they need or desire to 
know. Therefore should the course of instruction in our 
schools be so ordered as to insure to the greatest number of 
the young, in the first place, the highest moral culture that can 
be given them ; and secondly, the greatest proficiency in Read- 
ing, Writing and Arithmetic. 

Reading, especially, is of more importance than all other 
branches of learning. He who can read easily and intelli- 
gently, has the key by which he may, if he will, open all the 
treasures of knowledge. He may hold intimate communion 
with the saints and sages of past time, and be the constant 
companion of the masters of thought in the present age. All 
books of history, biography, travels, science and imagination 
lie open to him. The immortal works of Shakspeare — that 
intellectual cosmos — may be made his own ; and, more than 
all, the Bible, book of books, most "profitable for doctrine, for 
reproof, for correction, and instruction in righteousness," may 
disclose to him the counsels of God, the divinest wisdom. 

By deferring the formal study of Grammar, Geography, 
Algebra, Geometry, Physiology and other things to the up- 
per departments — those next below the High and Classical 
Schools — a great deal of time might be saved, which teachers 
should devote to Reading. And this they might do without 
wholly neglecting the studies just alluded to. For a well- 
trained and skilful teacher may easily lead his pupils to learn 
the elements of those sciences without text books. Fre- 
quently, at the close of a lesson in Reading, he may call their 
attention to the obvious characters and relations of the differ- 
ent words in a sentence, which will in due time reveal to them 
the principles of Grammar. In the same connection, there 
may often be occasions for him to teach prominent facts in 
Geography, which he can make at once intelligible to his 



34 

pupils by general instructions on maps and the globe. In the 
same way, the first principles of Geometry may readily be 
made plain to children by calling their attention to the lines, 
angles, and geometrical figures, that are to be seen every- 
where about them ; and by requiring them to spend some time 
in the practice of Drawing. And as to Physiology, its most 
important truths should be taught daily in all school rooms by 
the strict attention paid to the ventilation of the rooms, to the 
postures of the bodies of pupils in sitting and in standing; and 
by giving to them the reasons for such particularity ; and by 
pictorial illustrations of the human system, when in health 
and when diseased; and practically by well-chosen exercises in 
gymnastics. 

Children under twelve years of age learn incomparably more 
from well-conducted recitations, than they do by what is called 
studying their lessons. I do not undervalue studying. In due 
time great pains should be taken with children to lead them 
to form habits of real study. But in all our schools of the 
lower grades, there should be teachers, assistants, and assist- 
ing pupils enough to keep the children engaged in Reading, 
in Arithmetical Exercises, in Writing, in Geometrical or 
other drawings upon the Black Board or their slates, or in 
listening to carefully prepared oral lessons, pretty much all the 
while they are under tuition. And teachers ought to be so 
well informed, that they can promptly impart every kind of 
useful knowledge that may be suggested by any lessons their 
pupils may be reading or reciting, or by any interesting occur- 
rences that may happen in their schools. Never is knowledge 
so readily received, nor so firmly fixed in the mind as when it 
is imparted just at the moment the inquiry for it is naturally 
raised. Lessons in Readino; should not be confined to the or- 
dinary text-books ; but valuable volumes of biography, history, 
science, poetry adapted to the young, or interesting articles 
from newspapers, should sometimes be read by the teacher or 



35 

one of the pupils ; the rest of the class being required to listen, 
and afterward to report what they have learnt by hearing. 

I must omit much more that I would say on this and kindred 
topics, for want of time. I have seized this great educational 
occasion to give the prominence it deserves to the subject of 
Reading, because I am persuaded this primary art is alto- 
gether too much neglected, or very shabbily taught in most of 
our schools. I hope such a response to what I have said about 
it may be given here or elsewhere, by all who now hear me, 
as shall fix the*attention of teachers everywhere upon the pri- 
mal importance of Reading ; and excite those throughout our 
country, who have the supervision of our Common Schools, to 
be especially careful that all the children of the people shall 
be taught to read well, if no more. 

Nothing is so important to a human being in this world, as 
the ability to read well, excepting only Godliness and Good 
Health. 

Only to those last named, most needful things, should greater 
attention be paid, in all our schools and families, than to Read- 
ing. Bodily, mental and moral health demand the first and the 
last care of all, to whom is committed the education of the 
young. It is the extreme of cruelty to permit children to 
grow up in wilful or in unconscious violation of those princi- 
ples on which their highest welfare depends in this life and in 
the life to come. Every thing else in schools should give place 
to the moral discipline and culture of the pupils ; and teachers 
should be especially prepared and trained to do their duties 
well in this respect. For, in the first place, many of the chil- 
dren entrusted to their care, receive no moral culture, and are 
subjected to no proper discipline elsewhere. And, secondly, 
in school they are brought into new and enlarged relations 
to their fellows, and are subjected to novel and often severe 
temptation. But time forbids me to dwell, as I meant to do, 
on this, the most important of all our topics. I may only 
leave with you a few seminal thoughts. 



36 

The misdeeds and faults of children, even more than of 
adults, should be always so treated as to make it obvious to 
their fellows, that it will be far better for them to have their 
sins found out, than that they should remain concealed. Noth- 
ing is so fatal to the moral discipline of a school as a continual 
strife between the teachers, on the one side, to detect, and the 
pupils, on the other side, to hide, their own and each other's 
delinquencies. Pains should be taken to show the reasona- 
bleness, the necessity, of all the rules and regulations appointed 
for their governance — that they are not merely arbitrary en- 
actments. In this way a public sentiment may be awakened 
in schools, hostile to all transgressions of wholesome laws ; and 
the pupils may be brought to feel that they have been wronged 
and insulted, not less than their teachers, by every deed of 
violence, disobedient act, or instance of lying, profaneness or 
obscenity. Not the fear of punishment, but the dread of all 
wrono- alone can purify and elevate the characters of children 
or of men. 

Especial pains should be taken to seek and to save the lost ; 
and the sympathy and assistance of the well-behaved and vir- 
tuous should be invoked in their behalf, rather than the indig- 
nation and abhorrence of the good directed against offenders. 

All distinctions in a school should be avoided, excepting 
those of obvious and acknowledged superiority in moral char- 
acter and scholarship. Let such appear as they may, and 
brino- all the praise and joy they will to those who have earned 
them. Emulation, stimulated by the offer of artificial rewards, 
may enkindle the worst passions — envy, jealousy, hatred and 
revenue. Let no prizes, therefore, be offered in schools, ex- 
cepting that one prize which every child may gain if Le will — 
the consciousness of having endeavored to do his best. Teach- 
ers should ever be mindful, that the unsuccessful may some- 
times be the most meritorious ; that the desire to excel is by 
no means identical with the love of excellence ; and that the 
fear of censure is not the same as the dread of doing wrong. 



37 * 

Bear with me a moment longer. All children, who are not 
under proper moral discipline at home, and who withstand the 
good influences that may be brought to bear upon them in 
school, should be placed in institutions especially intended for 
the reformation of juvenile delinquents. When we shall have 
in all our cities, and at convenient intervals throughout our 
rural districts, institutions conducted upon the principles, and 
in the spirit of the admirable State Reform Schools at West- 
boro' and Lancaster, then, and not until then, will our sys- 
tem of Popular Education be complete. To make that system 
more perfect than it now is — to make it more truly Christian— 
it must be so extended and ordered, that it shall embrace and 
save the lost. 

Fathers and mothers, who cannot or will not train up their 
children in the way they should go, forfeit their parental right 
to them. They should not be allowed to keep them in igno- 
rance and sin for the sake of the pittance they may derive 
from their begging or their labor ; nor because of the mortifi- 
cation they might feel at having their sons or their daughters 
arrested and disposed of as delinquents. It is the duty which 
the State owes to its youthful members, as well as to its body 
politic, to take such children under its especial protection, from 
the families of the poor or the vile, and give to them the moral 
discipline and the literary instruction which they need, but 
which they fail to get at home. 

Then only shall the peace of our Republic be true and per- 
manent, when all the people are taught of the Lord ; when 
their minds are stored with necessary knowledge, and their 
hearts are filled with virtuous principles. None, not even the 
least of the brethren, may be neglected with impunity. As 
" God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abra- 
ham," so may there arise, from amongst the lowliest in our 
land, the men and the women, who shall be the Saviors or the 
Satans of our Great Republic. 

D 



38 



HISTORICAL SKETCH, 



BY 



REV. EBEN S. STEARNS. 



Ladies and Gentlemen : 

In entering on the duty assigned me, I must, at the outset,, 
not only cast myself upon your kind indulgence, hut hespeak 
your patience. The subject is not only too large, but too im- 
portant to be hastily treated, and yet I must confess to great 
embarrassment in the preparation, from a consciousness that 
brevity would be the soul of wit on this occasion ; and from an 
ever-present desire to gratify those who wish my words to be 
few. I beg leave to assure such, that I have remorselessly 
sacrificed everything not seeming to be absolutely essential to 
a respectable performance of my task. The particular history 
of this school — this earliest and most widely known of its 
c l ass — necessarily involves a passing allusion to all those cir- 
cumstances that gave it birth. 

The Massachusetts Common School System, so called — that 
shrewd device of our Puritan fathers, by which they hoped to 
outwit the Prince of Evil and protect their posterity from the 
"wiles of the old Deludef, Satan," — had for many years, through 
storm and shine, been the faithful nurse of elementary learn- 
ing, good citizenship and pure morals, — or rather, that alma 
parens whose bountiful gifts had advanced the State, strength- 
ened the church, and upheld the very pillars of social life. 
But when her offspring had become numerous, and occupied 



39 

with the labors and duties of life, or vexed with the cares of 
church and state, the mother seems to have been in a measure 
neglected, or looked upon as a good old lady in blue check and 
mob cap, with well-thumbed Bible on her knee, to be visited, 
and perhaps petted once a year or so, but not much thought of 
the rest of the time. She saw how she was regarded, felt 
how she was neglected, and knew how vain it was for her to 
plead with those who appreciated her so little ; and so with 
woman's tact and woman's patience, she folded her hands in 
seeming resignation, saying, li They will yet learn their true 
source of life and strength. I bide my time." And so it 
turned Out. 

Between the years A. D. 1820 and 1825, there appeared 
upon the stage a small class of intelligent, cultivated, self- 
sacrificing men, with all the vigor and freshness of early man- 
hood, who saw, as it were at a glance, how matters stood ; 
deplored the educational decline ; and began earnestly, and, in 
general wisely, to apply the remedy. An " Educational Re- 
vival," as our brother, the Orator, has aptly termed it, took 
place. The people began to see that a right education, widely 
diffused, would prove the glory of the State — nay more, was 
for her the only source of influence, power, and lasting great- 
ness. 

Time and present circumstances forbid us to speak in fitting 
terms of these Educational Revivalists, to portray their char- 
acters, and to recount the noble deeds which each performed. 
Indeed, thank God ! many of them yet live ; yet enjoy the 
rich fruits of their early labors ; are yet able and ready to 
lend a helping hand to every good work. 

Foremost, perhaps, among these pioneers was James G. 
Carter, genial as a friend, accomplished as a teacher, ardent 
as a politician, who fought most manfully, and for a time 
nearly alone ; and to whom, it is believed, belongs the honor not 
only of starting the great reform, but of perceiving how essen- 



40 

tial to its completeness and permanent utility, would be the 
thorough, professional education of teachers under public su- 
pervision and at the public charge. His newspaper articles 
on popular education, from A. D. 1821 to '24, — his letters to 
Hon. William Prescott, L. L. D., on the Free Schools of 
New England, with Remarks on the Principles of Instruc- 
tion, — his "Essays upon Popular Education, containing a par- 
ticular examination of the schools of Massachusetts, and an 
outline for an Institution for the Education of Teachers," — 
his Memorial to the State Legislature in 1827, praying for aid 
to establish a Seminary for the Education of Teachers, with a 
Model School attached, — his efforts in Lancaster, his native 
town, to carry out the School as a private enterprise, — his 
activity and influence in founding the "American Institute of 
Instruction" in 1829-30, that noble society which for thirty 
years has been a source of life to the educational interests of 
the country, — his unremitted labors as a politician in behalf 
of Popular Education, — his successful introduction of a bill 
establishing the Board of Education, — the detraction, perse- 
cution and financial disasters he encountered in the advocacy 
of his schemes, — all these entitle James G. Carter to a 
most honorable mention. 

There were William C. Woodbridge, a teacher and the 
son of a teacher, distinguished as a geographer and editor of 
the Annals of Education and other works, — and Samuel R. 
Hall, for many years a teacher of teachers, and in 1839 the 
founder, at Andover, of a Seminary for Teachers — the first 
regular seminary in this country designed for such an object — 
a genuine Normal School — though not of State patronage or 
adoption, — and Gardner B. Perry, of Bradford, a modest 
country clergyman, in early life teacher of a distinguished lit- 
erary institution, who through a long and able life labored as 
he found opportunity to promote popular education. 

There, too, were Thomas P. Gallaudet, the skilful, devo- 



41 

ted instructor of the deaf and dumb, who made the dull ear to 
hear of the wonders of the creation, and the tongue of the 
dumb to sing the praises of God, — and William A. Alcott, 
the eccentric physician and educator and author of many good 
books. 

Horace Mann, the first Secretary of the Board of Educa- 
tion, came late into the work, but brought with him all the 
powerful energies of his mature life ; all the learning, culture 
and acumen which had distinguished him at the bar ; all the 
knowledge of human nature and skill in management which 
made him successful as a politician ; and all the influence which 
he had acquired among the people. Withdrawing himself 
from less laborious and far more lucrative occupations, he gave 
himself, soul and body, to the great enterprise. Of his ear- 
nest, self-sacrificing devotion, of his indomitable persever- 
ance amid opposition and reproach, of his enormous personal 
labors, we cannot here speak. The prime agent in estab- 
lishing the Board of Education, its soul as well as its Secre- 
tary, he was the establisher of this school, and its most earnest 
and constant friend, so long as it continued within his reach ; 
and but for him it would have died for want of that mere pit- 
tance on which so much of its life has been supported, and 
which, again and again, he secured. 

Prominent among these was Edmund Dwight, the mer- 
chant prince, as unostentatious as munificent, whose open 
purse enabled the Secretary to live, which State patronage 
alone never could have done ; and whose timely gift of $10,000 
to the State of Massachusetts, presented March 10, 1838, se- 
cured from its Legislature a corresponding grant ; and was, as 
Mr. Mann has expressed it, "the origin, the source, the jmnc- 
tum saliens of the Normal Schools of Massachusetts." 

But time fails me to speak of Samuel Lewis, Walter 
Johnson, Josiah Holbrook, John A. Shaw, and a host of 
others. These and many more rest from their labors and their 
works do follow them. 



42 

We have yet with us, thank God ! William Russell, 
the educational journalist and associate of Woodbridge, 
whose native grace and charming elocution were as attractive 
as his pen was persuasive, and whose whole life has been spent 
in urging forward the work of popular education : 

Samuel J. May, the accomplished orator of this occasion, 
and the second Principal of this Institution ; the record of 
whose life is self-sacrifice, and earnest, unremitting endeavor in 
every good word and work designed to benefit mankind : 

Charles Brooks, whose labors in the years 1835-6-7, 
were second to those of no man — one might almost say to no 
number of men — to whom we owe the particular foim which 
Normal Schools took, and who did very much toward prepar- 
ing the public mind to look with favor upon the new system ; 
who, beginning with his own parish in Hingham, for the 
space of three years, without compensation or payment of ex- 
penses, travelled over New England, lecturing upon the Prus- 
sian system of Elementary Education, with especial reference 
to Normal Schools. From his friend, Victor Cousin, the 
first scholar of France, he obtained reports and documents, 
and encouraging words, which were to him the pabulum vitas ; 
for in this phase of the enterprise he stood almost if not quite 
alone ; yet planting his feet literally on "Plymouth Rock," he 
was conscious of strength. In behalf of a convention of teachers, 
called by him in Plymouth, he memorialized the Legislature 
in 1836, and was twice called before that body to speak upon 
his favorite subject. For many years Mr. Brooks has with- 
drawn, in a measure, from the bustle of the busy world, and 
nothing but his undying interest in these schools could, we are 
persuaded, have drawn him forth to engage in this commemo- 
ration : 

Henry Barnard, as much as any man in this country, en- 
titled to be called the Educator^ whose fruitful labors are in 
their prime, and are destined to produce results greater and 



43 

still greater as time progresses, and of whom this is not the 
place to speak at length. 

Time and your patience fail me to speak of others who de- 
serve the most honorable mention, and a large place io the 
affections of the hosts whom they have benefitted. One more 
only shall be spoken of. Let Horace Mann introduce him 
in the words used at Bridge water at the dedication of the first 
building erected for a Normal School in this country, August 
19, 1846: 

"I see before me a gentleman who, though occupying a sta- 
tion in the educational world far above any of the calamities 
or the vicissitudes that can befall Common Schools ; though, 
pecuniarily considered, it is a matter of entire indifference to 
him whether the Common Schools flourish or decline; yet 
from the beginning, and especially in the crisis to which I 
have just adverted, came to our rescue, and gave all his influ- 
ence as a citizen and as a teacher, to the promotion of our 
cause ; and whom those who may resort hither, from year to 
year, so long as this building shall stand, will have occasion to 
remember, not only with warm emotions of the heart, but, dur- 
ing the wintry season of the year, with warm sensations of the 
body also. I refer to Mr. Geo. B. Emerson." Thus far 
Mr. Mann. 

Mr. Emerson's whole life has been given to educational 
labors. The son of a distinguished physician, full of interest 
in popular education, and of labors to promote it, he has by in- 
heritance the qualities which, under his own careful training and 
culture, have made him eminent in his profession, and distin- 
guished him as the friend of Common Schools. In A.D. 1821, 
he was selected to fill the responsible office of Principal of the 
English High School in Boston, then just established. The 
work of organization, the plans and course of study, the nature 
of the discipline to be used, the means and motives to be em- 
ployed, the moral and religious principles to be urged, all 



44 

were left to his wisdom, skill and goodness. How well he did 
his work, let that noble institution, from that hour to the pres- 
ent the just pride of the city, tell. To him Warren Col- 
burn, his friend, submitted the manuscript of that best of 
works on the science of numbers, " First Lessons in Arith- 
metic," that, lesson by lesson, he might practically test the 
work in his school ; and the deserved popularity of this hook 
was owing to Mr. Emerson's warm recommendations. In 
1827, Mr. Emerson withdrew from the High School to 
open a Private School for Young Ladies, which he conducted 
with the most eminent success for more than a generation ; 
retiring from it in 1855, at a moment when, if possible, its 
popularity was greater than it had ever been before. 

Mr. Emerson, in 1827, was instrumental in forming the 
Mechanics Institute, was its first Secretary, gave the opening 
address, and delivered the first course of Lectures. In 1830 
he was one of the foremost in forming the American Insti- 
tute of Instruction, was its first Secretary, and for many 
years its President. In 1836, he was Chairman of a Com- 
mittee to memorialize the Legislature on the subject of the 
improvement of Common Schools, especially by revising the 
qualifications of the teachers, and drew up the memorial. 
No particular action being taken by the Legislature, in 1837 
a new memorial, also drawn up by Mr. Emerson, was pre- 
sented, and seems to have culminated the powerful efforts 
which were made upon the Legislature. In 1843 he wrote 
the second part of the School and School-Master, one of the 
wisest and best works of the kind ever given to the public. 
In 1830 he was active in the formation of the Boston Society 
of Natural History, of which he was for many years Presi- 
dent, and he was also for many years Corresponding Secretary 
of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1837, 
having been appointed by Gov. Everett Chairman of a Com- 
mission to conduct a Botanical and Zoological Survey of the 



45 



the State, he gave to the public his admirable and exhaustive 
report on the " Trees and Shrubs of Massachusetts." 

From the very first, almost of course, Mr. Emerson was 
deeply interested in the Normal Schools, and labored assidu- 
ously to promote their interests. In 1847 and 8, he was a 
member of the Boston School Committee, and the latter year 
was chosen a member of the Board of Education, and during 
the eight years of his service was most active and influential. 
He has been for several years, since his return from Europe 
in 1856, the Treasurer of the Board. 

The writer of this sketch, whose period of service as Prin- 
cipal of this Institution is entirely covered by Mr. Emerson's 
connection with the Board ; and who was often in a situation 
not only to test his love for the Schools but also his goodness 
of heart and catholicity of spirit, found in him an elder broth- 
er, wise in council, fruitful in suggestion ; always, in season 
and out of season, ready to assist ; sympathizing in every 
trial ; full of encouragement and rejoicing in every success. 
His efforts for this school have been constant and wise ; his 
gifts to it many ; and there are, doubtless, in this assembly, 
or laboring earnestly in far-off schools, or, it may be, gracing 
some New England home, not a few who owe to his unosten- 
tatious charity, their Normal School education; Long may his 
happiness and usefulness continue ! 

The bill establishing the Board of Education was approved 
by Edward Everett, then Governor of the State, on the 
20th of April, 1837. Horace Mann was then President of 
the Senate. At the first meeting of the Board, June 29th, 
1837, Mr. Mann was chosen its Secretary. 

The Constitution of the new Board made the ultimate intro- 
duction of Normal Schools a certainty. Indeed, any scheme 
undertaken by such men as Edward Everett, Horace 
Mann, James G. Carter, Edmund D wight, George 
Putnam, E. A. Newton, Robert Rantoel, Jr. and Jared 



46 

Sparks, was a success the moment they grappled with it. 
The first two Reports of the Board were written by Mr. Ev- 
erett, and his addresses at Lexington and Barre, with his 
great personal influence, did much to prepare the public mind 
to welcome the new measures. 

In 1838, on the 19th of April, that day so memorable and 
glorious, the Legislature by a joint resolve accepted the muni- 
ficence of Mr. Dwtght, and appropriated an equal sum to the 
founding of Normal Schools. 

Let us pass over the discussions in the Board of Education 
respecting the disposition of the $20,000 now in their hands, 
and hasten to say, that, ail things being ready — a teacher ap- 
pointed, a location selected, public sentiment, as was supposed, 
well aroused on the subject, and invitations to come and enjoy 
the priceless boon of a Normal School sent out, — expectation, 
regarding the incipient seminary, ran high. Why should it not ? 

The first examination of pupils for admission was to be held 
at the school-house in Lexington, on Wednesday, July 3d, 
1839. The morning came. The old historic town was agape 
with wonder. The new teacher was anxious, but strong in 
hope. The Board of Education sent out, to oversee and aid 
in the labor of the day, a formidable delegation ; and doubt- 
less Horace Mann, Jared Sparks and Robert Rantoul, 
Jr., as they gazed upon the limited capacity of the school 
building, and thought of the numbers they expected to. exam- 
ine that day, and the greater numbers expected to throng those 
halls on succeeding days, formed many a wise plan to enlarge 
their borders. The time for examining arrived — all was 
ready for action. The doors were thrown open to admit the 
eager crowd of candidates. Alas ! alas ! three modest, shrink- 
ing girls only were seen. Poor things ! no wonder if they 
were frightened. In numbers their examiners surpassed them, 
and were a presence in which the ripest scholarship might 
tremble. Poor things ? Nay, illustrious ones ! to your last- 



47 

ing honor you were first to perceive and appropriate the bless- 
ings in store, and forever first you will stand on the lists of 
Normal School pupils. It was a disappointment, cruel, in- 
deed. To feeble minds, the mortification would have been in- 
tense, and the seeming failure crushing ; but, small as it was, 
this was a beginning, and they knew it, and were content. 

Nothing daunted, the Board, on the first Wednesday of 
September, 1839, opened a second school at Barre, under the 
direction of the late Prof. Newman ; and on the second 
Wednesday of September, 1840, a third in Bridgewater, under 
the direction of the late Col. Tillinghast. 

It should be here understood that these schools were not at 
first State schools, but the schools of private munificence, 
aided by the State — the State being responsible neither for 
success nor failure. Consequently, and indeed as a measure 
of policy also, private aid was solicited and private coopera- 
tion secured. To the school in Lexington, a building, used 
as an academy years before, was given, free of rent, for three 
years ; and some contributions were made by well-wishing citi 
zens for repairs, apparatus, &c. A similar arrangement was 
effected for each of the other schools. The citizens of all 
these towns seem, however, perhaps naturally enough, not to 
have sufficiently appreciated the value of these schools to their 
respective towns, nor to have anticipated what they were in 
time to become. Accordingly two of the schools, those at 
Lexington and at Barre, were compelled to find new homes, 
after their first term of three years had expired ; while that at 
Bridgewater is understood to have actually suffered for a time. 

The gentleman selected by the Board of Education to com- 
mence the experiment at Lexington was Rev. Cyrus Peirce, 
a native of Waltham, Mass., born Aug. 15, 1790, and gradu- 
ated at Harvard College in 1810, where he left behind him a 
reputation for pure morals, upright demeanor, and thorough- 
ness in scholarship. In his sophomore year he taught the vil- 



48 

lage school in West Newton, where he was destined nearly 
fifty years after to close his long and successful educational 
career. Soon after leaving College, in 1810, he took the 
charge of a private school on the island of Nantucket; whence, 
after two years of acceptable labor, he returned to Cambridge, 
and completed a course of study preparatory to the Christian 
ministry. After spending three years in preparation for what 
he looked forward to as his great life-work, he was urgently 
solicited to return to Nantucket and resume the work of in- 
struction. Here he labored with his accustomed zeal and 
success until 1818, when he relinquished his place, and en- 
tered upon the work of the ministry. During his residence in 
Nantucket Mr. Peirce was united in marriage with Miss 
Harriet Coffin of that place, to whose wisdom in counsel, 
readiness and constancy of sympathy, promptness and energy 
in action, combined with cheerfulness and hopefulness of dis- 
position, and rich and varied culture, he doubtless owed much 
of his success in the different positions he afterwards filled. 
No sketch of this school, at least, could be complete which did 
not recognize the modest and uncompensated labor of Mrs. 
Peirce. May she long live to enjoy the gratitude of her own 
as well as her husband's pupils, and the benign smiles of our 
Heavenly Father ! Mr. Peirce was settled as a minister in 
North Reading in A. D. 1819, and continued ably and suc- 
cessfully to perform the duties of his office for eight years, 
when he resigned and again resumed the work of instruction,' 
subsequently returned again to Nantucket, where he became 
a recognized authority in all school matters, and was first and 
foremost in every good word and work. His influence on the 
Common Schools of the island was great, and served to make 
them among the very best in the country. While in charge 
there of the new public High School, Mr. Mann accidentally 
met him, visited his school, became charmed with the man and 
delighted with his work. Hence he was invited, in 1839, as 



49 

has been stated before, to take charge of the new, difficult and 
doubtful experiment at Lexington. No one can comprehend 
the situation of affairs at the time, — the grandeur of the enter- 
prise, if successful, — the disastrous consequences, if it failed, 
without cheerfully considering that this appointment was the 
highest honor that could be conferred on any educator in the 
country ; without understanding something of his feelings when 
he exclaimed to his wife, "Harriet, I would rather die than fail 
in this experiment." To his reputation as an instructor a fail- 
ure would have been a death from which there would have 
been for him no resurrection. No wonder that, when he re- 
turned home from the disappointment of that first day, he said 
to Mrs. Peirce, "The Board have made a mistake in electing 
me ; beyond Nantucket I am not known as a teacher, and the 
public have no confidence in me." The despondency was but 
a passing cloud, — cheerfulness and hopefulness returned. 

The little school, with some additions in the next few 
days, was organized, and commenced its noble career, unfalter- 
ingly. Numbers slowly increased ; a Model School was organ- 
ized in October, its first teacher being Miss Swift, now Mrs. 
Lamson, who is with us to-day ; and thus, on a small scale, the 
system was complete. Many persons will remember how 
apathetic were the people in general, at this time, in regard to 
these schools ; while some, ignorant of their true character, mis- 
apprehended and misunderstood their design, so that envy and 
jealousy were soon added to the obstacles to be encountered. In 
the winter of 1840, a storm of opposition arose, and but for the 
most skilful management and vigorous battle, the destruction 
of the Normal School, and a dishonorable return of his money 
to Mr. Dwight, would have been the consequence. God be 
praised, the Old Bay State, which none love more tenderly 
than those who no longer dwell among her enlightened peo- 
ple, was saved this burning shame ! The victory over politi- 

E 



50 

cal and theological opposition, over naiTow-minded jealousy 
and rivalry, gave rise to a better understanding and an unex- 
pected degree of popularity. So God everywhere "makes the 
wrath of man to praise Him." Opposition did not cease' at 
once, but it never again gained strength enough to be very for- 
midable. The school, once started and safely through its first 
winter, continued slowly but steadily to increase until 1842, 
when the Principal, exhausted by the labors and anxieties at- 
tendant upon it, was compelled to resign and recruit his wasted 
powers. Thus far he had labored alone ; and, that he might 
not give an argument to the most penurious, and in order to 
make the limited funds hold out as long as possible, had not 
only managed and taught the school, but had performed some 
of its most menial offices. 

Both Mr. Peirce and Mr. Mann at once fixed upon Rev. 
Samuel J. Mat as a most worthy successor, and, by their so- 
licitations, Mr. Mat gave up his parish in South Scituate, and 
accepted the appointment, September 1, 1842. Mr. Mat, a 
native of Boston, was graduated at Harvard University in 
1817. During his college life he taught school in the winter, 
first in Concord and then in Beverly. Having completed his 
studies, preparatory to the ministry, at Cambridge, he com- 
menced preaching in December, 1820, "the very Sunday after 
Daniel Webster's solemn charge to the occupants of the 
pulpit to be faithful to the cause of the enslaved." In 1822 
he was settled as a pastor in Brooklyn, Ct., where he remained 
fourteen years ; being, during the whole of that fime, a member 
of the School Committee of the town, and devoting much time 
and thought to education. It was at his instance, that in 1826 
the first popular convention on the subject of education and 
the improvement of schools was called. In the years 1832-3- 
4 and 5, he devoted much time to the anti-slavery cause, in 
connection with Mr. Garrison, George Thompson, and the 



51 

abolitionists. From 1836 to 1812 he was minister of the 
church of South Scituate, Mass., and, in the spring of 1845, 
was settled as minister of the First Unitarian Church in Syra- 
cuse, N. Y. where he at present resides. During Mr. May's 
connection with this Institution its numbers greatly increased, 
and he was compelled to summon to his aid assistants. 

The fortunate selection of Miss Caroline E. Tild en, doubt- 
less added still further to the popularity of the school. Miss 
Tilben, a former parishioner of his, was educated at the Bridge- 
watei School, and by her peculiar genius and talents, high cul- 
ture and zeal, was well-fitted for the post. Her heart was full 
of kindness, her manners attractive, and her eye was an almost 
irresistible charm. Her career was short ; she "preferred to 
wear out rather than to rust out," and soon passed away. Her 
associate, Miss Electa N. Lincoln, was a pupil of Mr. 
Peirce, a pupil and then an assistant of Mr. May, again 
an assistant and chief support to Mr. Peirce, and most ably 
conducted the affairs of the institution during the interval 
between the close of the administration of Mr. Peirce and the 
beginning of that of Mr. Stearns ; and with the latter she 
labored with untiring zeal and faithfulness, assisting him to 
carry the school through a most difficult and critical period, as 
no other could have done, encouraging him by her example 
and cheerful spirit, until her marriage in 1850 to Mr. Geo. 
N. Walton, of Lawrence. 

It may be well to state here, once for all, that it is impos- 
sible even to allude to the many highly cultivated, noble- 
spirited, self-sacrificing ladies who have from time to time 
labored in this school. May God bless them all, as they have 
blessed others! 

The school having now quite outgrown its accommodations, 
Mr. May urged upon the citizens of Lexington the necessity 
of providing more ample ones, if they would retain it. But 



52 

a spirit of apathy had fallen upon the people, or possibly they 
felt too sure of retaining the school without exertion on their 
part, and nothing was done. Finding that there was no hope 
at Lexington, Mr. Mat visited several other towns in the 
vicinity, and succeeded in finding, in the then greatly secluded 
village of West Newton, a suitable building and grounds, and 
a manifest desire for the school on the part of the citizens. 
The premises had cost originally $3000, but were greatly out 
of repair, and were now offered at $1500. But how to raise 
this sum was a question. The Board of Education had no 
funds which could be appropriated for such a purpose, — the 
munificence of private persons was apparently exhausted, — 
the prosperous school bade fair to die of poverty. In this 
etrait, Mr. Mann, to whom this school was dear as the apple 
of his eye, had recourse to an old, well-tried, personal friend, 
as well as a friend of popular education, who- had stood by 
his side in defence of Normal Schools "when they were a 
novelty on this side of the water, and ignorance, bigotry, 
economy and ridicule were arrayed against them." For five 
years they had progressed steadily in usefulness and populari- 
ty, but their permanent establishment was not considered to be 
certain. The school at Lexington was the most popular, and 
the scholars more than the building could accommodate. 
Should it die for the want ot $1500 ? Should all the anxie- 
ties, labors, and triumphant successes be lost for the want of 
.so small a sum ? On the other hand, let a building be pur- 
chased, and the school would have a home at once ; it would 
be immediately placed above contingencies ; it would have sta- 
bility and strength. No wonder that Mr. Mann, in his anxi- 
ety to seize the golden opportunity, and in full view of the 
glories of success and the sad consequences of failure, in the 
figurative language which he was, perhaps, more likely to use 
than approve, exclaimed, as he rushed into the office of the 



53 

Hon. Josiah Quincy, Jr. of Boston, " Quincy, do you know 
of any one who wants the highest seat in the kingdom of 
Heaven? for it is to be bought for $1500?" Mr. Quincy 
asked what he meant. An explanation followed. Mr. Quincy, 
with noble generosity, at once drew his check for the amount, 
directing Mr. Mann to buy the building, "take a deed in his 
own name, and, in case the Normal School system should be 
' abandoned, to devote the proceeds that might arise from a sale 
of the building to the advancement, in any way he pleased, of 
common school education." The building was out of repair, 
and Mr. Mann sold his library and stocks, and expended 
$1500 of his own money upon it. The citizens of West New- 
ton gave $600 more, the State added something ; the broad 
seal of permanency was affixed, and success was written over 
against experiment. 

Hon. Josiah Quincy, Jr., an illustrious son of illustrious 
parents and ancestry, to whose noble and timely generosity 
reference has been made, is tco well known in this community 
to make any sketch of his life and services proper here. We 
may add, however, that the education and employment of 
female teachers in schools has ever been a favorite measure 
with him. 

While things were thus progressing with reference to a 
removal from Lexington, Mr. May, finding that his predeces 
sor, Mr. Peirce, had recovered his health, with characteristic 
modesty and distrust of his own success, at once stepped aside 
and, by his resignation, August 31, 1844, made way for the 
re-appointment of Mr. Peirce, which took place September 1, 
1844. 

Mr. Peirce brought to his work renewed health and vigor, 
and, if possible, more comprehensive views of its nature and 
importance. The experiment was now regarded by the public 
generally as successful, and people began to seek to enjoy its 



54 

benefits rather than to destroy it. A new Model Department 
was created and .placed in charge of Mr. Geo. N. Walton. 

On the 20th of March, 1845, the Legislature resolved, 
" That the schools heretofore known as Normal Schools, shall 
be hereafter known as State Normal Schools," — thus formally 
adopting them into the school system of the State, and, by 
implication, becoming responsible for their generous support 
and conduct. That must have been a proud day for Mr. 
Peirce. His favorite school had succeeded. The little one 
had become a thousand ; the mustard seed a mighty tree, and 
its leaves were for the healing of nations. After three years 
more of unremitting labor, the health of Mr. Peirce again 
broke down, and he was compelled to resign in April, 1849, 
worn out and grown old before his time ; his physical condi- 
tion bearing witness to the nature and extent of the labor he 
had performed, and the responsibilities he had borne. On 
leaving the institution, his pupils and friends, by a public meet- 
ing and presentation of $500, to defray in part his expenses 
to Europe, testified their appreciation of his services, and love 
for him as a well-tried, devoted friend. Mr. Peirce went to 
Europe shortly after this, and, on his return, with his health 
greatly improved, he once more engaged in teaching. He 
now became associated with Mr. N. T. Allen, previously the 
director of the Model Department, in establishing a Private 
Seminary in the Normal School Building at West Newton. 
But Mr. Peirce's recovery was temporary ; he soon failed 
again, and finally closed his protracted labors on the 5th of 
April, 1860. 

We have no time to give an analysis of Mr. Peirce's char- 
acter, or of his method of instruction, This must be left to 
other persons and a fitter occasion. 

Mr. Peirce's successor was Eben S. Stearns, a native 
of Bedford. He was appointed in May, 1849, but did not 



55 

enter upon his labor until the following September, spending 
most of the intervening time in visiting schools in this and 
other States, preparing himself for the work. Mr. Stearns 
graduated at Harvard University in 1841, and was immedi- 
ately engaged in teaching ; first in charge of the Ipswich High 
School ; then of the Free Street Female Seminary in Portland, 
Maine, whence he removed to Newburyport, organizing and 
teaching in the Female High School as its first Principal. 
During this time he observed carefully the nature and work- 
ings of our Common School system ; and, being required to 
establish and conduct a teacher's class in his school at New- 
buryport, he not only had opportunity to acquaint himself with 
the Normal Schools, but also to gain considerable experience 
in the preparation of teachers. 

The position in which this new Principal found himself 
was trying in many respects. He was a younger man than his 
predecessors had been, less experienced and less known. He 
was to enter into the labors of one most firmly seated in the 
affections of his pupils, and identified with the school. Beside, 
he was. supposed by many to represent a new class of persons 
and interests. If there was, at first, some distrust on the part 
of the school and its friends on the one hand, and disappoint- 
ment on the part of those who looked for a tangible revolution 
on the other, it is not surprising. However, the latter smoth- 
ered their disappoint -nent, for it had no basis ; while the former 
were soon divested of prejudice by the cordiality of Mr. 
Mann, in whose family, by the invitation of his accomplished 
lady, he, for a long time, resided ; and by the ready support 
given him by his assistants, Miss Lincoln and Miss Pen- 
nell, and by Mr. Allkn of the Model School ; as well as by the 
general countenance and approbation of the most prominent 
members of the Board of Education. 

The school now became very large. The Model School was 



56 

moved across the street to excellent accommodations fitted for 
it by the town of Newton, and now became, under Mr. Allen, 
one of the most useful and popular of schools. The room 
vacated by the Model Department was speedily appropriated 
to the growing; wants of the Normal School. Even this was 
not enough, and the question of a new building and larger ac- 
commodations began to be agitated. 

The increase of numbers made possible some changes, which, 
with a smaller attendance, might have seemed of doubtful ex- 
pediency. The requirements for admission were more rigidly 
exacted. Pupils falling short of the required age, but a few 
days often, were rejected. "A severe and binding pledge 
was given in writing by every candidate, thai she would be 
faithful as a member of the institution, and devote herself to 
teaching, if qualified, in the schools of this State, and every 
one unwilling to give this pledge was excluded. The exami- 
nations for admission were made as severe as they well could 
be, and were conducted by members of the Board of Educa- 
tion, assisted by the teachers. None were allowed to stay in 
the school who did not give promise of aptness to teach, and 
ability to manage schools, however faithful in study or agree- 
able in behavior. The course of study was extended half a 
year, and made as thorough as possible ; and an additional 
three years' course was introduced for such as sought a still 
higher culture. The carefulness and severity practised in 
admitting pupils, the strictly professional character of the 
school, and the sifting and re-sifting, which the the pupils had 
to undergo, had an obvious tendency to keep down numbers, 
as well as to raise the standard of acquisition. In 1850, and 
ao-ain in 1851, the Board of Education took measures to bring 
before the Legislature true increasing wants of the school, and 
on "May 13, 1852, the sum of $6000 was placed at the dis- 
posal of the Board of Education to defray the expenses of pro- 



57 

viding a more commodious site and building, and the necessary 
appurtenances and apparatus for the accommodation of the 
State Normal School at West Newton ;" and the Board were 
directed to receive propositions from towns and individuals 
in aid of these objects, and afterwards to make such selection 
as would, in their opinion, best subserve the interests and ac- 
commodate the wants of said school. The time for receiving 
such propositions was limited to six months. 

Propositions soon began to come in. Lexington, seeing 
here an opportunity to recover the ground so carelessly lost, 
made most praiseworthy and liberal offers, and urged her 
claims strenuously. Salem, with that large-hearted generosity 
for which her citizens are so conspicuous, offered to provide 
such a building as the Board would direct, and meet the 
expense. Many other places made offers. West Newton 
was, perhaps, on the whole, the least liberal. The people had 
believed the school to be permanently located on the side of 
their pleasant hills ; "they didn't like the idea of other towns 
trying to buy it away ;" "they did not believe the opulent and 
liberal State of Massachusetts really wanted their money or 
cared for more than a testimonial of good-will ;'' they did not 
realize, that, under Providence, the Normal School and the 
influences brought with it, and attendant upon it, had raised 
their village from comparative obscurity to notoriety, and added 
to it a large and cultivated population and considerable wealth. 
The landholders did not seem inclined to part with a suitable 
site for any reasonable sum ; and, in short, the effort of West 
Newton to retain the school was too feeble to carry with it 
much weight. The final determination of the Board was to 
transfer this school to Framingham Centre, and to reward the 
generous impulses of Salem by creating a new State Normal 
School which should be located in that city. The Salem 
school was accordingly soon organized, and from that time to 
the present has been in a most flourishing condition 



58 

A site for the new school building having been selected in 
Framingham, the work of erection was soon commenced, and 
the school removed and established in its new and appropriate 
quarters on December 15, 1853, on which day the house was 
dedicated by appropriate services, His Excellency Governor 
Clifford presiding, and Mr. Geo. B. Emerson, making the 
dedicatory address. 

It is not strange that for a time some misunderstandings of 
each other took place between the town and the school, but 
these were finally and happily adjusted, and the school moved 
on in the even tenor of its way. 

The building now occupied by the State Normal School, 
with preparation of the grounds and the furniture, cost nearly 
or quite $20,000. Individuals presented for a site five 
and three-quarter acres of land eligibly situated, and the town 
appropriated two thousand five hundred dollars in aid of the 
erection of the building. The Boston and Worcester Rail- 
road Company, from whose energetic Superintendent, now 
its most able President, Hon. Ginery Twitchell, the 
author never asked a favor for this school in vain, appro- 
priated $2000, thus handsomely recognizing the influence of 
these educational institutions upon commercial prosperity. 

On the 22d of September, 1855, Mr. Stearns, who had 
been appointed Principal of the Female Academy at Albany, 
N. Y., resigned his place ; and Mr. George N. Bigelow, the 
present incumbent, immediately succeeded him. Of the last 
two administrations we cannot give an extended account, since 
the historian cannot impartially represent -the former of these, 
and the latter, however prosperous, is still in progress. 

In closing this protracted sketch the author mast again say 
that he has found the task of reducing the important facts of 
history to the limits prescribed exceedingly arduous, and if 



59 

much seems dry, or imperfectly stated, or if any fact of im- 
portance has been overlooked, he hopes that his desire, ever 
constant, but unattained, to be very brief, will be the apology. 
He must, also, be allowed to recognize the great assistance 
afforded him in the preparation of this sketch by gentlemen 
interested in this occasion, and especially by Hon. Henry 
Barnard, from whose excellent journal many facts have been 
drawn. And his thanks are due to Mrs. Horace Mann, for 
the polite and generous offer, for his perusal, of the journal of 
her late distinguished husband, of which it was impossible to 
avail himself, on account of the distance at which the sketch 
was written, and the limited time at the writer's command. 



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